Wednesday, January 2, 2013

First 'Find' for 2013..another convict in the family!

A Third Convict in the Frayne Family

Only three days into the new year and I am fortunate enough to have made an exciting discovery. I began this blog to record the stories of my convict great great great grandfather, Michael Frayne and his brother Lawrence Frayne , also sentenced to transportation from Ireland for stealing. Today I have discovered that a third brother, John Frayne, born between Lawrence and Michael was also transported to the Penal Colony of NSW for the crime of theft. John arrived in NSW on board the convict ship "Forth" on February 3, 1835, 9 years after his older brother arrived and 2 years before Michael. According to his Convict Indent, John's occupation was a Pantry Boy. Aged 17 years, the same age as Lawrence had been when sent to Australia for stealing rope, John was convicted of the theft of clothes. Like both of his brothers, he was described as having brown hair and grey eyes, and his complexion sallow.

John was immediately assigned as a servant to William Dangar in the Hunter Valley, where both Michael and Lawrence Frayne eventually lived.

William Dangar had arrived in the Colony in 1925 with his brother Thomas from Lampden in England. Their brother Henry Dangar, a Government Surveyor, was already living in the Hunter Valley area and had aquired considerable land holdings. William was granted 800 acres of land near Scone (Turanville) and later aquired a further 1800 hundred acres adjoining Turanville.

Thomas Dangar was the Postmaster at Scone and also the proprietor of the Golden Fleece Inn, the same hotel which my g g grandfather, Michael Frayne became the licensee for in 1864, although the Inn had been moved to a new location by Thomas Dangar by then. It appears that the more than one of my Convict Frayne's livelihoods were connected with the Dangar brothers, who were free settlers.